Blog of photographer David Hagerman.

November 18, 2013

I'm on assignment in Tamil Nadu. Leaving the city of Madurai we stopped the car to check out a wedding celebration that was taking place at the side of the road. A small crowd was gathered opposite and I strolled over to check out what was happening. A boy was getting his hair cut for the first time to mark his first birthday. The barber uses a straight razor to shave the child's head. His hair is given as a gift to the God. The 'gift' will be given again to mark his third and seventh birthday. I suspect it will be awhile before he doesn't run from the room when he hears the words 'hair cut'.

In 2010 I met by chance an elder of Tow Bo Temple on Cheong Fatt Tze Street (formerly Hong Kong St) in George Town, Penang. He invited me to attend ceremonies held on the ninth day of the festival, which culminate in a fantastic procession throughthe streets of George Town that ends at one of the Hokkien clan jetties on Weld Quay Road.

Tow Bo Temple is thought to be the oldest 9 Emperor Gods temple in Malaysia; scriptures at the temple date back to 1842. Families living in homes on either side of the temple, which have occupied them for five generations now, keep and maintain the float that the temple deploys in the procession.

Nine Emperor god worshippers are known by their white clothing and yellow sashes.

On the ninth day of the festival the 9 Emperor Gods are called to the temple and sent off in a boat. The ceremony begins with the raising of nine lanterns on a high bamboo pole outside of the temple. Inside the temple worshippers offer incense and food and pray. Then the temple's priest/medium calls in the Emperor Gods. Then the ceremony moves out onto the street, where arches are set up for worshippers to walk under.

While all this is going on members are beating drums outside; the atmosphere is electric and you can feel the spriritual fervor build. This helps worshippers who will be pierced though their cheeks enter a trance-like state which enables them to take the injury to their bodies dealt by quite large rods without bleeding. On the night I attended the ceremony about 6 or so devotees accepted the piercing. There's no wincing, there's no evidence of pain when the rod is driven through the cheeks of these men. It is, frankly, a little surreal to watch.

After the piercing the men are led down a sort of human chute of devotees, encouraged by clapping and drumming, and then they take their places on the temple's float. Lots of firecrackers are set off at the base of the street where it joins Carnavon, a major thoroughfare along which the procession, which includes floats from many other Nine Emperor God temples on Penang, will pass.

The procession is long and intense. Devotees follow along banging drums and in addition to their wheeled floats each temple has numerous male members carrying a sort of palanquin upon which a heavy boat rests. This boat figures in at the end of the ceremony. As the procession moves past other non-9 Emperor Gods temples (there are a LOT of temples in George Town, large and miniscule) the palanquin carriers do a sort of back-and-forth movement towards their entrances 3 times, symbolizing bows of respect.

At the pier, Tow Bo elders boarded a boat with the temples boat, which was loaded with paper offerings, joss sticks and sandlewood. They motored out to sea and set the boat ablaze. I boarded another boat with Tow Bo devotees and from that we watched the fire. We could see boats from other temples, also ablaze, floating in the distance. If the craft returns to land it is considered unlucky.

I have attended many religious events in Asia over the years. This was by far one of the most intense and exhausting.And rewarding. I hope this multimedia captures some of the intensity and raw emotion of that night.

A technical note:

I shot with 3 cameras - Canon EOS 1 Mark II fitted with a 70-200mm 2.8 IS, Canon EOS 5D Mark II with a 35mm 1.4 and Ricoh GRD3 which proved to be especially adept at capturing close in shots in a tightly packed crowd. I generally shot at ISO 800-1600 on the Canons and 400-800 on the Ricoh. I also had 2 OP/TECH USA Rainsleeves in my bag which came in handy when we had an hour-long deluge towards the end of the procession. When I met up with my contact at the temple he told me that big rain happens "every year at about the same time in the procession" -- so if you plan to attend this year, be forewarned.

Thank you to elders and members of Tow Bo Temple for their warm hospitality.

October 04, 2012

Women enter Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to perform a parkrama or circumnambulation of the temple deity. We attended this pooja in 2006 and 2007 in KL. Incredible to watch 1000 (?) women all dressed in red walking from Bangsar to Chinatown at dawn. In 2007 I was able to gain access to an upper balcony at the temple where this shot was taken. The celebrants entered the temple in groups. I cantilevered myself and tripod over the edge and waited for the women to get the go ahead to enter the portion of the temple where the deities are housed. I'd envisioned this shot after attending the event in 2006 and seeing the upper balcony which was closed to visitors. Returning in 2007 the organizers remembered me and helped me gain access to the balcony. An important lesson in returning to a scene and working it from another angle.

September 30, 2012

One of those 'you gotta stop the car' moments. Heading home from a portrait shoot in George Town this morning. A shrine erected on a small residential lane, paper horses grass stuffed in their mouths, baby passifiers hung around their necks. In a bucket at one of the horses' feet gold peanuts float in water.

Across the street a giant joss stick burns at a smaller shrine. as people pass. Some taking notice..others oblivious.

Just another day in George Town.

If you're coming to Penang and are interested in photography and in seeing a different side of George Town I offer one on one instruction tours. Details here. Drop me a line.

April 10, 2011

Wat Pa Pao, primarily services the Shan Burmese immigrant community of Chiang Mai. I attended day 4 (?) of the shin byu or novice monk initiation ceremony (shin byu (or pyu) ceremony - means to 'make a monk'). The boys, ages roughly 5-15 are dressed in finery (mimicking the dress of princes of Burma). The ceremony symbolises their passage into manhood and maturity.

They are treated as princes which means their feet are never allowed to touch the floor. Parents and family members feed and then carry the youngster around the temple. They are placed on horses (or elephants in some places) and in some cities paraded through the streets. This last bit is not part of the Wat Pa Pao initiation so I'll be scouting around for opportunities for next year.

November 28, 2010

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If you don't see what you are looking for drop me a line at dhagerman@davidhagermanphotography.com and I'll take a look through my archives.